Somewhere near the Palace of WestminsterWhere the UK's House of Commons and House of Lords meet. this morning, Sarah Clarke is dressing up in a black jacket with a white cravatA band or scarf worn around the neck, similar to a tie. . Some time after 11am she will take an ebonyA hard, dark-coloured wood used for making furniture. rod with a golden lion at the tip into the Palace of Westminster and walk towards the House of CommonsThe democratically elected house of the UK Parliament. It consists of 650 Members of Parliament. , where the door will be slammed in her face.

She will knock at the door three times, then call on MPs to accompany her to the House of Lords. At the same time, King Charles will be making his way there in a gold carriage.¹

When they are all assembled, he will read out a speech that he has not written, describing what Keir StarmerThe leader of the UK Labour Party since 2020 and British prime minister since July 2024. intends to do for the next five years.

This will include policies that Charles probably does not like very much. Private schools, like the one he went to, will be forced to pay VATShort for value added tax. It is payable to the government by a business that sells an item. Essential items like food are zero-rated. Children's clothes are also exceptions. for the first time. Charles is one of the biggest landlordsPeople who own land or property and rent them out to tenants. in the country, and the speech is expected to give tenants more rights and security.

Charles will also have to announce reforms to the chamber in which he is making the speech: hereditary peersMembers of the House of Lords who have inherited their position from their parents. There are currently 92 hereditary peers in the HoL. will no longer be allowed to vote in the House of LordsIn the UK, the upper chamber of the UK Parliament. It is made up of hereditary peers, the Lords Spiritual (bishops) and life peers. .

If you think this all sounds a bit odd, you are not alone. The state opening of Parliament, known as the king's speech, is widely thought to be one of the strangest parts of British politics.² Some see it as a sign that Britain is still stuck in the past.

But others say although the king's speech might seem like a lot of silly extravagance, its rituals are meant to reiterate fundamental facts about the British constitutionA document that sets out the fundamental rules according to which a country is governed, which are usually difficult to change..

Sarah Clarke is officially known as Black RodIn the UK, a House of Lords official who controls access to the House. , and she is the king's representative in Parliament. When the door is slammed in her face, this symbolises the independence of the House of Commons from royal power.

And the speech has to be read out in the House of Lords because the king is not allowed to set foot in the House of Commons. This rule dates back to 1642, when Charles I entered the chamber to arrest five MPs for high treasonThe crime of betraying your country. and was forced to leave.³

In the modern day, the king's powers are exercised by the prime minister. So the Commons is symbolically affirming that MPs cannot be bullied into doing everything the government says. The ritual reminds them that their role is to stand up to power.

That is why some think we always strive to maintain our traditions, because they often contain wisdom that we may not be aware of.

Conservative thinker GK Chesterton came up with a principle called Chesterton's Fence.⁴ He imagined someone who finds a fence built across a road, says "I do not understand what this is for", and tries to demolish it.

A wiser person, he wrote, will take the opposite view: before you destroy or alter it you must first find out what it is for. We have to understand the purpose of things if we are to reform them well.

But others point out that the reality of British politics is quite different from the ritual. MPs have relatively little power and almost always do what the government says.

The tradition, they say, hides this reality. It lets us think we live in a healthier and freer system than we really do.

Is tradition worth defending?

Yes: Thinker Edmund Burke wrote that traditions represent the accumulated reason of all past generations.⁵ It would be the height of arrogance to think our own modern ideas are wiser than that.

No: Traditions are not wise: most old ideas get out of date sooner or later. And when they no longer match reality they can stop us from recognising what is wrong with our systems and improving them.

Or... Some traditions are good and others are bad. Rather than keeping them all or getting rid of them all, we should understand whether they do good or harm, and reform them accordingly.